Dispensing apparatus for fire extinguishers



Sept. 13, 1966 L. 5. HORWITT 3,272,390

DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR FIRE EXTINGUISHERS Filed Nov. 13, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l 62 i 64 5 l J jgi 5 54 & 20 i 29 if I m I i? 2- 2 76 INVENTOR.

Sept. 13, 1966 HORWITT 3,272,390

DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR FIRE EXTINGUISHERS Filed Nov. 13, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INYENTOR.

[aura/706 6. him/viz f BY W M kQ -L HTTOIPNE 7S United States Patent 3,272,390 DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR FIRE EXTINGUISHERS Laurence G. Horwitt, New Haven, Conn., assignor to Casco Products Corporation, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Nov. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 411,045 18 Claims. (Cl. 222-153) This invention relates to improvements in dispensing devices for pressurized containers.

The device of this invention is particularly adapted for use with small hand held fire extinguishers of the dry powder type, which are suitable for installation in homes, cars, boats and many places not usually covered by immediate fire protection where small fires can be contained by fast action.

In these installations, it is a desideratum that the actuating and discharge components of the dispensing device be protected, both during storage and during removal from the place of storage, against damage and accidental discharge Which may result from violent movements of the storage receptacle or mishandling such as being dropped on a floor by the experienced as well as inexperienced users of the extinguisher, and yet without the protecting means interfering in any way with the operation of the extinguisher by the user, or rendering other operative features thereof more difficult.

While protecting means for portable hand held dispensing devices have been heretofore proposed, they have not received widespread acceptance by the public at large due to the complexity of structure and the attendant high cost, coupled with the fact that such prior proposals have not provided a dispensing device which not only controls discharge, but also indicates discharge pressure, permits periodic testing of the actuating components, indicates whether or not the dispensing device has previously been tampered with or the extinguisher partially discharged, and is provided with protecting means which does not interfere with any of these features when the protecting means is in place on the device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing device for pressurized containers such as fire extinguishers which combine all of the above described features in a small, simple, inexpensive and efi'icient construction which is readily and inexpensively produced and assembled, and is highly suited for use in a great variety of applications and is easily operated and used by such users as the housewife, autoist, boatsman, etc.

A feature of the present invention is provision of such a dispensing device in which all parts thereof are protected against damage and/or accidental discharge from intentional or inadvertent mishandling by a permanently mounted protecting means which does not interfere with the various operating characteristics of the device, such as periodically testing the operability of the device, indicating container pressure and the intentional actuation of the device for discharge.

In the form at present preferred the invention is embodied in a dispensing device for a pressurized container having a discharge passageway and a manually movable flow control member in the passageway, movable in one direction in response to the amount of the pressure in the container and means for actuating the flow control member in the other direction. A removable stop member or obstructing means is positioned to be engaged by a portion of the flow control member to prevent movement thereof to an open or discharge position, but which nevertheless permits limited movement of the flow control member within predetermined limits to permit testing of the operability of the flow control member without discharge of the container contents, and to permit operation of a pressure indicating means integrally associated with the flow control member. The stop member is preferably provided with means which indicates whether or not it has been removed and replaced when the device has been previously actuated for dispensing purposes.

A protecting guard member is provided which surrounds the dispensing device and extends above the actuating means to protect it against damage from dropping or other mishandling. The guard is preferably permanently mounted on the pressurized container and is provided with means which facilitates the testing and pres sure indicating operations of the device, the removal of the stop member, and the full actuation of the flow control member to discharge position, all without removal or other manipulation of the guard member.

These and other objects of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the device of the invention applied to a pressurized container such as for a fire extinguisher;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side sectional elevation on an enlarged scale taken on the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of one embodiment of a safety stop member;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary partial sectional side elevation of an alternate embodiment of the present: invention;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary partial sectional rear elevation taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 6, the dispensing device 10 is mounted on a container 12 which contains a fluid under pressure and may be of the type conventionally used with fire extinguishers of the dry powder type in which the powder in the container is expelled through a discharge orifice under relatively high pressure. As shown in FIG. 5, the container 12 has an annular head 14 around the upper end thereof to which a container cap 16 is sealingly connected by an annular head 18 with a resilient sealing element 20 being interposed between the beads 14 and 18.

The cap 16 sealingly receives and supports a discharge head 20 which comprises a valve body 22 having a longitudinal passageway 24 extending therethrough which connects outwardly of the container 12 with a lateral passageway 26 defined by a discharge nozzle 28 which terminates in a discharge orifice 30. The nozzle 28 is preferably formed integrally with a cover member 29 having a skirt portion 31 which is sealingly received, as at 32, within the upper end of the insert 16. The passageway 24 communicates at its lowermost end with the interior of the container 12 by means of a siphon tube 33.

Discharge of the contents of the container is controlled by a valve stem 34 which is axially slidably mounted in the passageway 24 and. which has a valve body 36 formed thereon including a sealing member 38 which presents a suitable sealing surface to the interior surface of an upper sealing portion 39 of the valve body 22. The valve body 22 is provided with a lower chamber portion 40 having a diameter larger than that of the upper sealing portion 39 and being connected thereto by an outwardly flared portion 42. Discharge of the container contents is permitted by inward movement of the valve stem 34 over a plurality of sealing positions to an open position where the sealing surface of the sealing element 38 is disengaged from the sealing surface of the upper sealing portion. 39 and passes into the flared portion 42 to provide an escape route for the container contents around the sealing member 38 and valve body 36.

The lower end of the valve stem 34 is provided with a flange 44 which contacts a coil spring 46 received in the bottom of the valve body chamber 40 when the valve stem 34 is moved to the open position. The spring 46 is dimensioned so as to return the valve stem 34 to a position where the sealing member 38 just enters the upper sealing portion 39 of the valve body, but is insufficient in length to urge the valve stem to its fully extended position so that the valve stem is urged to that position only by the pressure within the container.

In order to provide an indication of the pressure within the container 12 at any desired time, the valve stem 34 is provided with an upper portion 48 which projects outwardly of the top wall 50 of the cover member 29 and is provided with indicating indicia 52 thereon which may take the form of a particular color or other suitable readily observable indicia which will indicate the position of the valve stem 34 relative to the cover member 29. In the illustrated embodiment the indicia takes the form of a portion 54 of the stem body colored green and another portion 56 being colored red, the division line between the two colors being positioned in correlation with the internal pressure in the container so that the green portion 54 will be exposed to view if there is sufiicient operating pressure within the container 12.

In order to withdraw the valve stem 34 within the valve body 22 in response to decreases in the container pressure, a coil spring 58 is provided in the lower chamber portion 40 of the valve body 22 which cooperates with the valve body and the valve stem to urge the latter inwardly against the force of the reduced pressure on the valve body 36.

In order to prevent inadvertent discharge of the container contents prior to the intended. time of use, the device is provided with a stop means which acts upon the valve stem to prevent depression thereof to the point where the sealing member 38 moves into the flared portion 42 of the valve body 22. In one embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 5, this means takes the form of an elongate tab 60 which is formed of rubber or other suitable resilient material. The tab has a bifurcated end 62 providing an entrance passageway 64 which terminates in a bore 66 having a diameter at least slightly smaller than the diameter of the valve stem 34. The tab 60 is made sufficiently thick so that when the valve stem is depressed the tab abuts the upper surface of the top wall 50 before the sealing element 38 passes out of the upper sealing portion 39 of the valve body 22. The tab 60 is further provided with a handle portion 68 by which the tab may be grasped and readily removed from the valve stem.

In order to indicate whether or not the tab 60 has been removed and replaced when the device has been previously actuated for dispensing purposes, a frangible element 70 such as a small piece of pressure sensitive tape or other adherent member which may readily be applied, is secured to the bifurcated end 62 of the tab 60. This element is severed or otherwise destroyed when the tab 60 is removed from the valve stem 34.

As indicated above, one of the advantages of this invention is that the discharge structure can be periodically tested from time to time to assure the operability thereof, without removal of the stop tab 60 or discharge of the container contents, and at the same time, the above mentioned pressure indicating means may be observed to check the condition of the container pressure. This is accomplished by correlating the thickness of the stop tab 60 with the amount of movement required to move the sealing member 38 to open position so as to permit only limited movement of the valve stem 34 within predetermined limits within the valve body 22 and to arrest the inward movement of the valve stem 34 before the sealing member 38 reaches the flared portion 42 of the valve body.

Thus, by manual depression of the actuating button 72, the valve stem 34 may be moved inwardly until the undersurface of the tab 69 strikes the upper surface of the top wall 50 of the cover member 29 to assure that the parts have not become frozen through long periods of nonuse. At the same time, if sufficient operating pressure is present within the container 12, the valve stem 34 will immediately move upwardly to expose the green portion 54 thereof. If, on the other hand, there is insuflicient pressure in the container 12, the valve stem will either remain in the depressed position, or it will move upwardly only to the extent that only the red portion 56 shows above the top wall 50 of the cover member 29.

The entire dispensing device 20 is fully protected against damage resulting from either intentional or inadvcrtent mishandling by means of a guard element 74 which may conveniently be mounted on the container 12 by means of a depending skirt portion 76 adapted to being engaged in a tight press fit with the bead 18 of the container cap 16. The guard 74 is provided with an aperture 78 through which the discharge nozzle 28 projects. The guard is also provided with an upwardly opening recess 80 which provides both finger accas to the actuating button 72 and permits the handle portion 68 of the stop tab 60 to be readily accessible for grasping and removal without removal or other manipulation of the guard member 74.

A plurality of openings 82 are provided in the guard member in position to permit observation of the indicating portion of the valve stem. By this construction it is apparent that the guard 74 performs its intended function during periods of non-use of the fire extinguisher while at the same time permits visual inspection of the pressure indicating means, removal of the stop tab 60 and actuation of the button 72 all without removing the guard or manipulating it in any manner.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 7 through 9, the discharge and pressure indicating structure is identical to that shown in FIG. 5 and described with reference thereto. In this embodiment, however, a modified form of guard and stop means is provided in which the stop means is mounted on the guard and supported thereby and cooperable with the valve stem to limit and arrest the inward movement thereof prior to the valve sealing member reaching its open position. In this embodiment, a guard is provided which is preferably, although not necessarily, formed of a transparent material, such as a clear plastic. The guard is retained on the container by a resilient lip 102 which is engaged under the bead 18 of the container insert 16. The guard is provided with a downwardly opening recess 104 through which the discharge nozzle 28 projects, and an upwardly opening recess 106 to permit finger access to the actuating button 72.

The stop means of this embodiment comprises a pin or small shaft 108 which extends through apertures formed on opposite sides of the guard 100 and is held in place by a finger grasping head 110 on one end of the pin and a frangible or other readily removable element 112 received on the other end of the pin. The pin is mounted in the guard in position to underlie the bottom surface of the actuating button 72 and overlie the upper surface of the top portion 50 of the valve body. As seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, so long as the pin 108 is in place, the upper portion 48 of the valve stem can be moved inwardly by the actuating button 72 only until the button 72 strikes the pin, after which further inward movement of the valve stem is arrested. If there is suitable operating pressure within the container 12, the upper portion 48 of the valve stem will be urged outwardly to expose the green portion 54 thereof to indicate this condition. If, on the other hand, there is insufficient operating pressure in the container, only the red portion 56 of the stem will be exposed. Both of these conditions are readily observable through the transparent gmard.

When it is desired to use the fire extinguisher, the pin 108 is readily removed by exerting sufficient pull on the grasping knob 110 to break or otherwise remove the frangible element 112 from the end of the pin.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that there is provided a dispensing and pressure indicating device for a pressurized container which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior .art and achieves the foregoing objects of this invention. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments thereof described and shown herein, which are intended to be merely illustrative of the best modes presently contemplated for carrying out the principles of the invention and which are subject to modification of form, size, location and arrangement of parts, but is intended to encompass all such modifications and equivalents as may be deemed to be within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a pressure fluid dispenser comprising a container having a fluid under pressure therein, a dispensing device mounted on the container and including a stationary discharge head defining a discharge passageway, a manually operable member movable in the passageway between a sealing position therein and an open fluid-discharge position, said member including a finger engaging actuating portion projecting outwardly of the discharge head, and stationary guard means surrounding said discharge head and extending beyond said outwardly projecting portion of said movable member to guard the latter against damage thereto and operation thereof when brought into engagement with a foreign object; the improvement comprising movable stop means positioned to be engageable with the outwardly projecting portion of said manually operable member to prevent manual operation thereof to said discharge position, said stop means being movable from said engageable position and having means extending to the exterior of said guard means for manual engagement to move said stop means from said engageable position.

2. In a pressure fluid dispenser comprising a container having a fluid under pressure therein, a dispensing device mounted on the container and including a discharge passageway, a manually operable and pressure responsive member movable in the passageway between predetermined limits of a plurality of seal-ing positions and beyond one of said limits to an open fluid-discharge position, and guard means surrounding said device and extending beyond said movable member to guard the latter against damage thereto and operation thereof when brought into engagement with a foreign object; the improvement comprising movable stop means positioned to be normally engageable with said manually operable member for limiting the movement thereof within the predetermined limits of said plurality of sealing positions and to prevent manual operation thereof to said discharge position whereby the operability of said member and the magnitude of the pressure in the container can be tested from time to time without discharge of the container contents, said stop means being movable from said engageable position and having means extending to the exterior of said guard means for manual engagement to move said stop means from said engageable position.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the guard means comprises a substantially cylindrical sleeve mounted on the container, said sleeve having a radially extending opening through which said extending means of said stop means passes to be accessible for manual grasping.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 2 further including means on said stop means for indicating whether said stop means has been moved from engageable position and replaced in engageable position subsequent to previous actuation of the device for dispensing purposes.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 2 further including means on said movable member for indicating from time to time whether there is suflicient pressure in the container for effective use thereof, said means being responsive to movement of said movable member within said predetermined limits of the plurality of sealing positions in response to the presence of pressure within the container, and the guard means having means permitting observation of said indicating means without removal of the guard means.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein the guard means comprises a substantially cylindrical sleeve mounted on the container, and the means permitting observation of the indicating means comprises at least one radially extending opening through said sleeve in axial alignment with said indicating means.

7. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein the guard means comprises a substantially cylindrical sleeve mounted on the container, and the means permitting observation of the indicating means being that the sleeve is formed of a transparent material.

8. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the stop means comprises a member carried by the manually movable member in position to abut a. portion of the dispensing device after the movable member has been moved within the predetermined limits of said plurality of sealing positions but before the movable member reaches said discharge position, said member being manually removable from the movable member to permit manual operation thereof to said discharge position.

9. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the stop means comprises a member mounted on the guard means in position to be engaged by a portion of the movable member after the movable member has been moved within the predetermined limits of said plurality of sealing positions but before the movable member reaches said discharge position, said member being manually removable from the guard means to permit manual operation of the movable member to said discharge position.

10. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the guard means comprises a substantially cylindrical sleeve mounted on the container, said sleeve having means permitting manual operation of said movable member without removal of said guard means.

11. The invention as set forth in claim It] wherein said means comprises an upwardly opening recess formed in said sleeve, said recess extending inwardly toward the container to a point substantially below the movable member and providing a finger access opening thereto.

12. In combination with a dispensing device for a container having a fluid under pressure therein, the dispensing device having a valve body defining a discharge passageway therethrough and a manually operable and pressure responsive member movable in the passageway between predetermined limits of a plurality of sealing positions and beyond one of said limits to an open fluid discharge position, the movable member having a portion projecting outwardly of the valve body for manual engagement to move said movable member in one direction against the pressure in said container, stop means mounted on said device and positioned to be engageable with said projecting portion of said movable member for preventing movement thereof to said open fluid discharge position while permitting movement thereof within said predetermined limits whereby the operability of said movable member and the magnitude of the pressure in the container can be tested from time to time without discharge of the container contents, said stop means being readily removable from said device to permit said movable member to be moved beyond said one predetermined limit to said open fluid discharge position.

13. The combination set forth in claim 12 wherein said stop means comprises a stop element mounted on said movable member in position to abut a portion of said valve body when said movable member is moved to said one predetermined limit and to obstruct the movement of said movable member therebeyond to said open fluid discharge position.

14. The combination as set forth in claim. 12 wherein said movable member comprises a rod and said stop element is formed of a resilient material and is elongate, one end thereof being bifurcated to define an opening of smaller size than that of said rod whereby said element yielding grips said rod and may be manually removed therefrom.

15. The combination as set forth in claim 14 further including indicating means removably received across said bifurcated end of said stop element and encompassing said rod and adapted to be removed from said stop element by the rod when said sto-p element is removed therefrom thereby indicating whether said stop element has been removed from said rod and subsequently replaced thereon.

16. The combination as set forth in claim 15 wherein said indicating means comprises a frangible strip adhesively secured to said bifurcated end of said stop element.

17. The combination as set forth in claim 12 wherein said stop means comprises a stop element mounted on a portion of said valve body in position to engage said projecting portion of said movable member when said movable member is moved to said one predetermined position and to obstruct the movement of said movable member therebeyond to said open fluid discharge position.

18. The combination as set forth in claim 17 wherein said stop element has a portion projecting beyond the portion of said valve body on which said stop element is mounted, and there is means removably secured to the projecting portion of said stop element and adapted to be removed therefrom when said stop element is removed from the valve body stop portion thereby indicating whether said stop element has been removed from said valve body and replaced thereon.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 853,670 5/1907 Yanacopoulo 222-309 2,686,652 8/1954 Carlson et a1. 222-l53 X 3,158,292 11/1964 ODonnell 222--182 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES R. CARTER, Examiner. 

1. IN A PRESSURE FLUID DISPENSER COMPRISING A CONTAINER HAVING A FLUID UNDER PRESSURE THEREIN, A DISPENSING DEVICE MOUNTED ON THE CONTAINER AND INCLUDING A STATIONARY DISCHARGE HEAD DEFINING A DISCHARGE PASSAGEWAY, A MANUALLY OPERABLE MEMBER MOVABLE IN THE PASSAGEWAY BETWEEN A SEALING POSITION THEREIN AND AN OPEN FLUID-DISCHARGE POSITION, SAID MEMBER INCLUDING A FINGER ENGAGING ACTUATING PORTION PROJECTING OUTWARDLY OF THE DISCHARGE HEAD, AND STATIONARY GUARD MEANS SURROUNDING SAID DISCHARGE HEAD AND EXTENDING BEYOND SAID OUTWARDLY PROJECTING PORTION OF SAID MOVABLE MEMBER TO GUARD THE LATTER AGAINST DAMAGE THERETO AND OPERATION THEREOF WHEN BROUGHT INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH A FOREIGN OBJECT; THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING MOVABLE STOP MEANS POSITIONED TO BE ENGAGEABLE WITH THE OUTWARDLY PROJECTING PORTION OF SAID MANUALLY 